The Types and Benefits of a Facelift

Regardless of how well we protect our skin from the sun or only use the best products in our skincare regimen, sometimes we can’t stop signs of aging from poking through. Aging is a completely natural human process, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a hard thing to accept. Especially when it affects your self-esteem.

Your face can exhibit signs of aging in a multitude of ways regardless of how old you actually are. Signs such as sagging skin, dark circles under the eyes, thinning lips, growing eye bags, and wrinkles can all develop on your face and negatively impact how you feel.

If external preventions and remedies for maintaining your appearance as you age are no longer cutting it, there are more substantial procedures available. Both surgical and non-surgical facelifts are a fantastic cosmetic alternative available to you. If you’ve been considering dipping your toes into the wonderful world of age-defying and beauty enhancing cosmetic procedures, then you’ll be glad to know that we’ve broken down the benefits of facelifts in this handy guide just for you.

Read on to find out how getting a facelift can change your life for the better!

What is a Facelift?

First of all, you would, of course, like to know what exactly a facelift is. Their primary purpose is to restore that highly sought after youthful appearance and glow to your face. As people age, the firmness and elasticity of their skin significantly change, which is the main contributor of sagging skin. However, with the vast variety of cosmetic procedures that have been invented over the years, this has quickly become a problem of the past.

Facelifts have been around for years. In fact, they stem all the way back to the early 1900s and are also commonly known as rhytidectomy. This medical procedure effectively diminishes the appearance of wrinkles and sagging skin on one’s face in order to achieve a more youthful appearance.

The surgery is performed by lifting the excess skin off of the facial muscles and fat. The skin is then gently pulled upward, any excess skin removed. Right after tummy tucks, liposuction, breast implants, and eyelid surgery, facelifts are one of the most in-demand types of aesthetic surgery in the world.

Although facelifts are generally prescribed to individuals who aim benefit from the age-defying effects of the procedure, patients with the following characteristics could also take full advantage of the benefits of facelifts:

• Deep creases under the eyes, nose, and around the mouth.
• Jowls in the lower area of the face.
• Excess fat deposits underneath the jaw and chin, which could often create the appearance of a double chin. This can be present in people regardless of the fact if they’re overweight or not.

Benefits of a Facelift

While you already understand how a facelift works, let’s take a deep dive into the specific benefits of getting a facelift:

Tight Facial Muscles

The underlying muscles of the skin change drastically as we age. Before repairing the loose skin while you undergo a facelift, the underlying structure may be tightened and rearranged into a finer configuration as well.

Revitalization of Loose Skin

The sagging skin on your face will be carefully pulled and trimmed in order to manifest a more youthful and natural appearance.

Improved Facial Contours

Facelifts can functionally restore that smooth and soft appearance that you want to maintain. It targets the cheeks, lower eyelids, jawline, and neck area, giving you sleek and youthful and invigorated facial contours.

Reduction of Excess Fat

With the removal of sagging skin comes the reduction of fat as well, especially in the jaw and neck region.

Types of Surgical Facelifts

There are several types of facelifts depending on your specific need and preference. The most commonly performed ones are listed below:

Traditional Facelift

During this surgery, the surgeon makes an incision in front of the ear and extends it up to the patient’s hairline. Ultimately, the incision will reach the nape. From that point, the loose and sagging skin will be separated from the deeper tissue and will be pulled tight before suturing.

SMAS Lift

SMAS stands for Superficial Musculo Aponeurotic System Lift. Its purpose is to realign the suspensory ligaments in order to encase the cheek fat and hold them in place.

Thread Lift

For those who may be a little less inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery, but still want to bring back their youthful glow, thread lifts are for you. Most surgeons consider thread lifts as the least invasive age-defying procedures that can effectively rejuvenate your face. It’s best for patients who want to target minor aspects of their face. This procedure improves the appearance of drooping or saggy skin around the eyes, nose, and forehead.

This technique is so minor that it can be performed under local anesthesia. Regardless of thread lifts being less invasive and more minor in comparison to other facelift techniques, they are equally constructive and practical. The threads used for this method will remain intact for several years.

Mid Facelift

If you are experiencing a flattening of the midsection of your face, it is typically caused by age. This cosmetic surgery is often prescribed to individuals who wish to revitalize that area. However, mid-facelift is not recommended for people with excessive jowls or sagging of the neck.

Skin Only Lift

As you can already tell from the name, this method only targets the skin, while leaving the deeper tissues, ligaments, and muscles untouched. This type of facelift is generally endorsed to patients who only want to regenerate the elasticity of their facial skin for about 6 months to a year.

Types of Non-surgical Facelifts

Everyone wants to retain their youthful beauty and fresh-looking skin, but not everyone is keen to go under the knife. A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of invasive age-defying treatments. This is where non-surgical facelifts step to the rescue.

Non-surgical facelifts are the whole package as they render equally wonderful results as the surgical approaches. Unlike surgical methods, they may require a series of sessions and need to be maintained more often, but the upside is that they are much less costly and barely run the risk of any implications at all. Viable non-surgical options include botox, laser therapy, radiofrequency, and chemical peels.

Botox

One of the most popular and widely used non-surgical facelifts are botulinum injections, more commonly known as Botox. Botox can have tremendous benefits on the condition of your skin as it targets crow’s feet, frown lines, neckbands, and other visible wrinkles. Another great thing about a non-surgical facelift is that it has minimum downtime, renders instant results, and has only minor side effects. If you enjoy short sessions and short recovery time, then Botox would be perfect for you.

Thermage

Thermage is a cosmetic procedure that utilizes radiofrequency in order to improve the smoothness of skin by means of tightening existing collagen. Furthermore, Thermage kicks it up a notch by stimulating the production of new collagen as well. To top it off, this radiofrequency technique lifts the brows, cheeks, and jawline; plus it treats fine lines, dimpled skin, cellulite, and wrinkles.

Fillers

Fillers are injectables that are also considered to be volumizers that provide well-rounded and fresh-faced skin appearance. They fill in facial lines or creases with specific types of substances and plump the cheeks, temples, and jawlines.

LED

A milder and more painless approach to facelifts is none other than LED therapy. This treatment uses variously coloured lights to fight the effects of wrinkles, acne, fine lines, pigmentation, redness, and inflammation. This type of technique usually requires 24 sessions before results become visible.

Are You Ready for A More Youthful Appearance?

McLean Clinic offers a variety of surgical and non-surgical facelifts that can give you a younger-looking appearance. Contact us today in order to book your consultation.